Politics

Lauren Baer, a South Florida Congressional candidate, denounced the nomination of CIA Director Mike Pompeo to lead the U.S. State Department.

“The Tillerson State Department was ineffective. But a Pompeo State Department will be downright dangerous. With the threats to our national security more pressing than ever, it’s time to #DefendDiplomacy, not install Trump’s war cabinet,” Baer tweeted on Thursday.

Baer, 38, was a high level official in the Obama administration and worked at the State Department under Secretaries Hillary Clinton and John Kerry. She is a married mother and global strategist seeking the Democratic nomination in U.S. House district 18, which includes parts of Palm Beach, St. Lucie and Martin Counties.

“I’m not running as a gay candidate,” Baer told the Palm Beach Post. “I’m running as a candidate who is gay. We share the same values as other folks, have the same concerns for our daughters as other folks have for their children.”

Baer married Emily Meyers, an attorney, in 2014 in a ceremony in New York. She has raised more than $1 million in her first attempt at congressional public office and is endorsed by the Victory Fund.

As for Pompeo, the former Congressman from Kansas said during Thursday’s confirmation hearing that he did not approve of same-sex marriage.

“I continue to hold that view,” Pompeo said when questioned by U.S. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey.

U.S. President Donald Trump nominated Pompeo to replace Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State. Tillerson reportedly called Trump a “moron” and was fired on March 13.